This invention relates to a method of determining the dielectric properties of wood, in particular for purposes of deriving therefrom a measure of the moisture content of the wood, and to means for use in such method.
Definition of Terms
Moisture Content
Defined as the following percentage,             M      .      C      .        =          100      ⁢                                    M            w                    ⁢                      M            d                                    M          d                      ,
where Mw is the mass off wet sample and Md is the mass of the bone-dry sample.
Free water
Water present in the trachea of the wood sample.
Bounded Water
Water bounded to the cell walls of the wood sample.
Fiber Saturation Point (f.s.p.)
The maximum moisture content where all water is absent from the trachea and all remaining water is bounded to the cell-walls.
The typical f.s.p. for softwoods such as Pinus is 30%. For hardwoods, this is typically 30-40%. This however varies from species to species.
When drying wood in a wood drying kiln, an end-point moisture content of 5% to 20% is normally required. Traditional methods of measuring the moisture content of wood, whilst reasonably accurate towards the end-point moisture content, become less accurate at higher values of the moisture content. At a moisture content of above 30%, the traditional methods become completely unreliable.
For the proper control of the environment in which wood is dried, for example, in a wood-drying kiln, it is important for the moisture content of the wood to be known accurately while the moisture content is still relatively high, e.g. above 30%. If the moisture content is accurately known at these relatively high values it becomes possible to accelerate the drying process considerably, without causing undue stresses in the wood.
The complexity of wood is easily under estimated. Wood is highly an-isotropic both in anatomy and by its electrical and dielectric properties. It is a complex composition of air, water cell-wall structure, organic materials such as cellulose, lignin and resins, inorganic salts and ion concentrations. The anatomy is comprised of solid cell-wall structures combined with trachea (tangential hollow tubes) which is either filled with water or air depending on the moisture content (m.c.) of the sample. Furthermore, variations within species is remarkably striking regarding ion-content which translates in conductivity and resistive variations. Species-to-species variations in ion content is even more influential and wide species to species changes in conductivity is experienced. In order to measure the dielectrics of such a complex medium, the influences of each of these components need be addressed before valuable and usable measurements and methods can be devised. The measurement of the dielectric properties of wood is particularly and unexpectedly troublesome as reported in detail in the book by Torgovnikov[C]. (The citations herein identified by upper case letters are o the bibliography at the end of the specification.) Not only is the dielectric highly an-isotropic and grain direction dependent, the unexpected temperature behavior of the conductivity of wood is worth mentioning. It would be expected that wood would have similar characteristics as usual carbon based resistors, which displays a decrease in conductivity with increased temperature (increase in resistance respectively). The conductivity of wood in fact does not follow this trend at all, but rather displays the temperature dependence strikingly similar to a semi-conductor i.e. the conductance increases with increasing temperature. It is clear that if this is not taken into account measuring methods of e.g. capacitance of the wood-dielectric will fail at elevated temperatures as large errors will be introduced. This particular fact resulted in several measurement systems to fail in industry for obvious reasons James[R]. To make matters even more troublesome, extremely non-linear anomalies occurs regarding the other relevant dielectric component namely the relative permittivity xcex5r also known in layman""s terms as the dielectric constant. Since the relative permittivity gives rise to capacitance via the probe geometry and since capacitance will be what is measured, this influence will be discussed in terms of the capacitance but is equally valid for the relative permittivity. Dielectric constant and as a consequence capacitance increases substantially with increase in temperature compared to more homogeneous dielectrics. However, Torgovnikov [C] cites James""s results to display the following anomalies. Not only is the relative permittivity and therefore capacitance wildly frequency dependent, it does so in an unexpected manner. Completely dry (bone-dry) wood has a relative permittivity of 4, while water has a relative permittivity of 80. The relative permittivity of water and bone-dry wood is for all purposes frequency independent except for the normal dispersion variations not of relevance here. However, when water and wood is combined i.e. wet wood is measured, we do not obtain the intuitive combined relative permittivity of 84, but instead values are reported by Torgovnikov and James [C] of xcex5r=650000 at certain lower frequencies. This is most certainly an anomaly and to date still unexplained and seemingly not challenged however unlikely it seems. Furthermore the relative permittivity and therefore the capacitance increases dramatically with decrease in frequency compared to minimal change in xcex5r detected for pure water and bone-dry wood when not in combination over the same frequency range. In addition the loss-tangent tan xcex4, which is an indication of how lossy a material is in an applied electromagnetic field, also displays curious anomalies generally not expected from dielectric media. Even the most complex composites usually has a loss-tangent, for which each value of loss-tangent only one value of element of composition can be obtained. With wood as dielectric the loss-tangent generally becomes a relation i.e. the loss-tangent plotted against moisture content is that of a bell-curve Torgocvnikov [C] resulting in two moisture contents giving the same loss-tangent reading. This clearly cancels loss-tangent for measurement above f.s.p. in most cases as it results in ambiguity. These complications dwarfs the already significant an-isotropic behavior of xcex5r which has different values when the applied electromagnetic field is applied tangential and radially to the wood respectively. The remaining significant behavior of the wood-water relationship is at f.s.p, where free water starts to assemble in the hollow trachea and dissolves salts. These ions then drastically increase the conductivity above f.s.p. to enormous proportions and in effect making any correlation of moisture content above f.s.p. difficult if not impossible. The conductivity of wood therefore becomes an almost constant high value above f.s.p. literally independent of higher moisture contents. The reason for the sudden conductivity increase above f.s.p. is due to the minerals K, P, Al, Fe, Zn, Ca, Mn, Cl, Na and Mg, to name a few which are naturally encountered in wood. The majority of these minerals are dissolved and present in the free water as ions and therefore has a phenomenal influence on conductivity above f.s.p. Below f.s.p. no free water exists and these minerals are then deposited on the cell walls with less influence.
The bounded water (adsorbed water on cell walls) is also changed fundamentally in that the water which is now adsorbed by the cell-walls clearly cannot be rotated easily as a dipole in the applied field. As the wood dries the adsorption to the cell-walls increases giving even more resistance to rotation in the applied electromagnetic field. This results in a curved relationship between xcex5r at moisture contents below f.s.p. Above f.s.p. the free water in the hollow trachea are the dominant influence on xcex5r and xcex5r versus moisture content and the H2O molecules as dipole can easily and unrestrictedly be oriented in the applied electromagnetic field. This is the reason why xcex5r is then linear from f.s.p upwards to 200%. This combined then establishes a curve-linear relationship between xcex5r and the moisture content as empirically verified by Skaar[F]. It is therefore evident that two xe2x80x9ctypesxe2x80x9d of water exists in the wood-water combination and they influence the dielectric properties in a very different way. The list of behavioral anomalies are not exhausted as there are piezzo electrical effects creating electrical impulses during drying due to crystalline structures in the wood and several more which will not be discussed, although further complications arises due to them. Wood rivals if not champions the most complex composite dielectrics, is rich in anomalies and unexpected behavior. These anomalies and properties are crucial to understand why some measuring processes in prior art, when applied to wood, are irrelevant or non-functional and will be referred to in sequel.
Dielectric Model of Wood
It is well known from literature that the sensitivity of inductance to moisture content of wood is negligible. The dielectric for wood would then comprise of the various influences of dielectric constant xcex5r and conductivity "sgr" only.
The full dielectric model for wood is displayed in FIG. 1. All the different kinds of polarizations evident for wood are represented by the various capacitances. They are Ce Ca Cd Cv and Cz, effected by electronic, ionic, dipole, inter-facial, electrolytic, polarizations. Rd, Rv, Rz and Rt are the resistances resulting from energy losses at dipole, inter-facial, electrolytic, and resistance related to the direct current, respectively.
The model in FIG. 1 is for analytical purposes and a practical model used in determination of dielectric properties of wood for commercial systems is the Thevenin-Norton, lumped model as in FIG. 2 where the representative dielectric components are now the lumped values Cx and Rx.
In the discussion below, it will be understood that the model as shown in FIG. 2 is used.
As a dielectric, wood is then comprised of physically and chemically inseparable components Rx and Cx combined in parallel to form an impedance. It is of utmost importance to understand that with wood as a dielectric, Rx and Cx cannot be treated as discreet components as one of the components cannot be physically removed from the medium to have only the other to remain and then just decide to measure one but ignore the other.
Correlation with Moisture Content
Several correlations of moisture content in wood are possible and are substantially researched, refereed, published and discussed by researchers in the field of wood-science.
Correlation of the Moisture Content with Conductivity
Conductivity manifests itself by means of resistance measurements and corresponds to conductivity according to the probe geometry used. As the bounded wood-water reaches a saturated state at around f.s.p. (30% m.c.), any moisture content above f.s.p. will result in free water condensing in the trachea. The salts deposited on the cell-walls then dissolves increasing the conductivity radically until a maximum is reached. The graph in FIG. 3 shows that it is not feasible to correlate conductivity with moisture contents above f.s.p. as there is not much resolution. This is the reason why resistive type measuring systems fails to give consistent readings above f.s.p. and can only measure in the shaded area correlation of the moisture content with the loss-tangent (tan xcex4).
Correlation of Moisture Content with Loss-Tangent
Loss-tangent can be obtained from the conductivity and relative permittivity by means of       tan    ⁢          xe2x80x83        ⁢    δ    =            1              ω        ⁢                  xe2x80x83                ⁢                  R          x                ⁢                  C          x                      .  
It displays less of the restrictions of conductivity above f.s.p. but it is ambiguous as for every value of tan xcex4 there exists two moisture contents. It is therefore usually only restricted to measurements below f.s.p. Since it is dependent on resistance, the values above f.s.p. will inherit the instabilities of resistance above f.s.p. due to hysteresis effects. FIG. 4 show how moisture content varies with loss tangent correlation of the moisture content with the dielectric constant
Correlation of the Moisture Content with Dielectric Constant xcex5r.
This correlation manifests itself in capacitance measurements where capacitance is proportional to xcex5r by means of the probe geometry. Therefore all pure or exact capacitance measurements must correlate to moisture content according to the curve-linear graph such as in the FIG. 5.
As can be seen, there is no difficulty correlating pure capacitance with moisture contents above f.s.p. and the full range of moisture contents are available. These curves have been obtained and verified by Skaar, Uyemura, James at high frequencies and others under controlled conditions eliminating conductive influences. At lower frequencies capacitance has less influence on the impedance and conductance becomes dominant making it more difficult to obtain the same trend as the pure capacitance becomes obscured.
Definition of and Comparisons Between Resistive and Capacitive Sensors
It is of importance to focus on the two dielectric measurement principles namely xe2x80x9cCapacitancexe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cConductivityxe2x80x9d of the wood sample as is clear from the above descriptive of the dielectric model of wood. The classification of all the type of dielectric moisture measurement principles is now established.
It is clear that a measurement principle which claims to be a capacitance meter must be able to single out and measure only the capacitance Cx in FIG. 1 and be generally insensitive to changes in Rx.
Likewise, a measurement principle which claims to be a resistance meter must be able to single out and measure only the resistance Rx in FIG. 2 and be generally insensitive to changes in Cx.
Then, for a measurement principle to claim to be a loss-tangent meter       (                  tan        ⁢                  xe2x80x83                ⁢        δ            =              1                  ω          ⁢                      xe2x80x83                    ⁢                      R            x                    ⁢                      C            x                                )    ,
it must be clear that the meter combines the Rx and Cx components in such a way as to represent loss-tangent closely.
Any measurement principle unable to separate the components Rx and Cx in FIG. 1 will therefore be a non-linear convolution of dielectric properties and no fundamental information regarding Rx and Cx can be extracted. The output of such measurement is therefore some convoluted indication of the influences of both Rx and Cx. This measurement type will be referred to as of xe2x80x9cconvolutedxe2x80x9d type hereinafter.
Measurement methods which can measure and identify Rx, Cx and tan xcex4 accurately and independently will be described as xe2x80x9cPure-measurementsxe2x80x9d hereinafter.
Furthermore, if a single measurement principle can obtain all the separate dielectric properties at once and in real time, it will be called xe2x80x9creal-time measurementsxe2x80x9d hereinafter.
It is important to distinguish between the type of cited measurement principles in the prior-art in order understand and appreciate the differences between the prior art when applied to wood as dielectric medium.
State of the Art
Ahtianien [N] discloses a method by which he claims to measure capacitance of an organic material as dielectric e.g. grain. The circuit proposed there, measures only the amplitude of the alternating voltage over a capacitance C, and then rectifies it by an ideal solid state rectifier. The circuit is analyzed as follows.
The oscillator generates a real valued alternating voltage Vo and the voltage across the dielectric to be measured is defined as Vd. Since the input impedance of the operational amplifier is extremely large very little loading or error will be introduced on the dielectric containing C. The circuit will therefore show       "LeftBracketingBar"          V      d        "RightBracketingBar"    =      "LeftBracketingBar"                            Z          d                                      Z            d                    +                      R            1                              ⁢              V        d              "RightBracketingBar"  
as the output of this circuit. It is clear from the body and specification of the patent that the author defines his model for the dielectric of wheat as that of a capacitance C only. In order to apply and evaluate the method of Ahtianien to wood as a dielectric, we need to replace the Capacitance C representing the dielectric with that of a capacitance in parallel with a resistance to represent wood as shown in FIG. 2. We then analyze the performance of this invention on the model for wood. Since wood as a dielectric is comprised of two physically inseparable components namely Rx and Cx, and since Ahtianien assumes that there are no or negligible influences of Rd present, we will now refer to the situations where Rd is varied. We use published data on the properties of wood to construct an example. From Torgovnikov[C], we obtain tables for dielectric properties of wood at elevated temperatures. Consider the case of density       ρ    =          0.5      ⁡              [                  g                      cm            3                          ]              ,
temperature T=90xc2x0 C. and moisture content m c.=40%. The dielectric properties listed at these conditions are tan xcex4=24 and xcex5d=221. Assuming the most basic probe setup namely, a parallel plate probe with the mentioned wood-dielectric disposed between it and choosing the area of the plates as ratio to distance between them             A      d        =    1    ,
we obtain the capacitance as Cd=xcex50xcex5r=1.956 nF, where       ϵ    0    =            8.8510              -        12              ⁡          [              F        m            ]      
is the permittivity constant of the free vacuum. A trivial calculation using       tan    ⁢          xe2x80x83        ⁢    δ    =      1          ω      ⁢              xe2x80x83            ⁢              R        d            ⁢              C        d            
yields, Rd=339xcexa9 for wood using the published data.
The percentage error introduced by not considering the resistance in the dielectric for the invention as in [N] is now investigated. Since the dielectric of wood is comprised of a capacitance in parallel with a resistance, we now conclude by considering two cases. The first calculating the output voltage of the circuit as intended by Ahtianien, meaning without the resistance connected in parallel with the capacitor as in his circuit and then repeating the calculation when a resistor is connected in parallel with a capacitor of the same value as the first test. Ahtianien discloses that he chooses R1 for every suitable measuring range by means of choosing it equal to the reactance of the capacitive component. Since we calculated the capacitance from the published data, the value for R1 as required by Ahtianien equates to 8.136kxcexa9. By comparing the values obtained at the output of his invention by means of the percentage                     VZ        C            -              VZ                  R          ⁢                      //                    ⁢          C                            VZ      C        ,
where VZc is the output voltage when an impedance with a capacitance only is connected to the circuit as dielectric, while VZR//C is the output voltage from the circuit with the dielectric comprising of the same capacitance connected in parallel with a resistance. The values of capacitance and resistance as calculated for wood under the conditions of the published data will now be used. After trivial calculation the results show an error in excess of 90% obtained when the method of Ahtianien is used on wood as dielectric i.e. measuring wood but ignoring the influence of resistance Rd. The invention of Ahtianien can therefore only measure a dielectric for which the resistive component is negligible and is therefore not applicable to the measurement of wood as a dielectric as was clearly shown. It is therefore of the convoluted type as defined and described above in the section under subtitle xe2x80x9cDefinition of and Comparisons between Resistive and Capacitive Sensors.xe2x80x9d Clearly Ahtianien""s method fails when used with wood as a dielectric. Athanien would typical show a capacitance almost double the value of the actual value of the capacitance contained in wood as dielectric medium which is clearly unacceptable.
Vogel [J] discloses a method by means of measuring the loss-tangent tan xcex4 to determine moisture content. It would not be unacceptable to assume that the method presented by Vogel measures loss-tangent (tan xcex4) accurately and that we may discuss his method in terms of tan xcex4 as he do claim in the title and claims of his patent. The reader is referred to consult the exact same data used for Ahtianien from the table found in Torgovnikov[C]. Upon inspection of the loss-tangent at       ρ    =          0.5      ⁡              [                  g                      cm            3                          ]              ,
T=90xc2x0 C. it is clear that tan xcex4 has a maximum at about 30%. As stated above, it is not acceptable to have a single measurement correlated with two possible moisture contents as outcomes as ambiguity clearly results. Based on the cited public data, if the instrument of Vogel indicates tan xcex4=29, then two moisture contents will be displayed by the instrument, namely 20% m.c. and 100% m.c. An operator not informed about the present state of the wood will have no way of knowing which of the two moisture contents are the correct one. It is clear that this method and all other methods based on tan xcex4 can only be used when the wood is either known to be very wet or very dry in advance. To make matters worse, the maximum in tan xcex4 shifts with temperature and frequency further limiting it""s use and further necessitating even more hindsight. Upon closer inspection of FIG. 5 in vogel, it is seen that indeed, Vogel constrained his measuring apparatus severely by only allowing measurements between 8-15% m.c. out of the normal 0-200% m.c. required for a full range measurement method. It must be noted in addition that the principle of Vogel is dependent on reference components in the form of an accurate 90xc2x0 phase-shift and that he uses this phase shift to obtain the complex current of the dielectric resembling the loss-tangent. It must also be evident that since Vogel only measures the complex current, insufficient data prevents separation of the exact values of Cx and Rx, as loss-tangent is dependent on both of these dielectric components. This application can therefore be classified as obtaining an approximated form of the loss-tangent by measuring a property closely related but not exactly the loss-tangent tan xcex4.
Lundstrxc3x6m [B] does not disclose that sinusoids are used or measured across the dielectric to be measured or phase angle is sensed. A resonance technique is used in the form of a tank circuit as the measurement principle. It also discloses that a current is measured which is then used to approximate the power loss. The power loss is related to a measurement which can isolate Rx out of the complex dielectric which also includes Cx. The description of the patent does disclose that the circuit attempts to obtain Rx independently from Cx. The method however is not capable of obtaining Cx and is in effect still dependent thereof as is strikingly evident in the manner compensations are used to eliminate the effects of Cx. The method used in this application clearly uses a method of xe2x80x9cbrute forcexe2x80x9d to attempt to get rid of Cx. The method relies on the connection of a large capacitance in parallel with the tank circuit containing the wood dielectric. It is disclosed that this larger capacitance is then used to obscure the capacitance in the dielectric in order to eliminate it""s effects. It can be deduced with certainty that this method cannot obtain Cx at all. The method also discloses that the application of the device is by means of comparison i.e. a reference sample of known moisture content is first measured, then other samples are compared in reading with the reading of this reference sample. There is therefore no exact relationship to moisture content for this measurement principle, nor is there any claim their measurement is related to published moisture vs dielectric property relationships. It must be noted in passing that the xe2x80x9clarge capacitorxe2x80x9d as used is selected of magnitude xcexcxcexcF. This is usually equal to pF (pico Farad). Almost all wood containing moisture content displays capacitance far in excess of 10 pF so the units and the text are contradictory in description. The author probably meant 10 mF=10 000 xcexcF, as this would be used to force the imaginary part   1      ⅈω    ⁢          xe2x80x83        ⁢          C      x      
of the impedance to zero (if the frequency is chosen to be relatively low) although it is hardly an acceptable method to suppress the influences of Cx compared to a method which would calculate the influence of Cx and subtract the known influence. It is disclosed that Rx is measured or correlated with moisture but as explained above such a method cannot measure above f.s.p. The description also discloses that the measurement system is dependent on power supply variations and temperature influences and that hardware implementations need be introduced. In this regard thermisters are introduced to temperature compensate the design against thermal drifts.
Ted [A] discloses a method by which he measures resistance or reactance of which the latter can be constructed from either a capacitance or inductance. It is not disclosed in the patent that combinations of say Rx and Cx can be measured simultaneously. In fact the description indicates that there are three different methods by which each of Rx, Cx and Lx are obtained. This is then classified as a composite method unable to obtain Rx and Cx accurately when combined into a single dielectric to be measured. Ted also discloses hardware compensations necessary to eliminate power supply variations and oscillator amplitude variations. To conclude, the opening sentence in the claims states that the invention measures selectively, either Rx or Cx or Lx but not combinations thereof.
Kraxberger [M] does not disclose that his circuit measures E, but he claims he measures the impedance. If we assume that he does incorporate E to obtain an impedance measurement another question arises. It must be remembered that the impedance of a wood dielecteric is complex i.e.       Z    x    =            R      x        +                  1                  jω          ⁢                      xe2x80x83                    ⁢                      C            x                              .      
Therefore in order to obtain the complex impedance, the phase angle between I and E must also be known. None of these items are described and it becomes clear that the method is meant to measure only the magnitude of the complex impedance. It is also clear that no phase detection of any sort is performed. The method can therefore not be used to obtain to pick out Cx and Rx from a parallel combination and obtain them accurately. It must be noted that the amplitude of the complex impedance of the wood dielectric is dependent on Rx and therefore will have detrimental influence on measurement above f.s.p as explained in above. It is also disclosed that the system can only work satisfactory if the probing cables are shielded and where the shield is driven in anti-phase to the applied signal for the purpose of eliminating the probe-cabling capacitances. This is therefore a hardware implementation to illuminate probe-cable capacitances. It is also important to note, that this application uses a single plate as a probe. It is also noteworthy that this probe is equipped with standoffs as displayed in FIG. 4. The reason for this is to eliminate the influence of conductivity and therefore Rx in order to present some form of resistive isolation and reduce currents from flowing with contact. This is in fact the attempt to eliminate the influence of Rx in the complex impedance of the wood dielectric. Isolation of probes proved unsuccessful and was investigated by James and Boone [R] who tested similar systems in great detail with mixed results. The equivalent circuit in FIG. 2 displays a bridge circuit by which only C4 can be adjusted to bring the bridge into balance. It is well known that in order to obtain both Rx and Cx from the complex dielectric, at least two components in a bridge needs to be varied. The circuit in FIG. 2 therefore establishes that the method cannot pick out Zx and Rx from a parallel combination and obtain them accurately.
Perry [O] discloses a method by which a bridge is connected to the wood complex dielectric. Perry acknowledges that the wood displays two properties namely Rx and Cx. He then correctly discloses in his description that as wood dries, Cx decreases while Rx increases. Perry then correlates exactly this dynamic with moisture content. Perry uses one conductive plate as probe to the dielectric. The invention of Perry is basically similar to Kraxberger[M]. Both uses a capacitive bridge connected to the dielectric by means of a conductive plate and the imbalance of the bridge is then correlated to the moisture content.
Bechtel [G] discloses an invention for small sample online measurement of grain-direction and not moisture content. No relevance is found.
Preikschat [H] discloses that the relative permittivity increases with increase in conductivity. As this statement is true for some instances it might not necessary be true for all condition of wood. If it is remembered that             ω      ⁢              xe2x80x83            ⁢              R        x            ⁢              C        x              =          1              tan        ⁢                  xe2x80x83                ⁢        δ              ,
and that /tan/delta generally resembles a bell-curve w.r.t. moisture content from 0-100% James in Torgovnikov[C], and since it is known that the relative permitivity xcex5r is curvilinear and monotonic but tan xcex4 not necessarily so, establishes Rx as not necessarily monotonic which is in stark contrast with this statement. Should you have a method by which you can measure Rx and Cx accurately, there would be no need to compensate Cx for changes in Rx. Since Preikshat has to compensate Cx w.r.t changes in Rx, his method and the compensation is contained in one of the claims, he therefore most probably do not obtain Rx and Cx accurately from the complex dielectric and a resulting influence of Rx on Cx is encountered.
Walsh [K] discloses a method by which he first detects the resonant frequency of a tank circuit of which the dielectric, comprising of Rx and Cx is measured in soil samples. The variable components xe2x80x9c120xe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9c122xe2x80x9d are then used to obtain the frequency of resonance. He then utilizes the equations       W    2    =                    1                              R            1                    ⁢                      R            2                    ⁢                      C            1                    ⁢                      C            2                              ⁢              xe2x80x83            ⁢      a      ⁢              xe2x80x83            ⁢      n      ⁢              xe2x80x83            ⁢      d      ⁢              xe2x80x83            ⁢                        V          2                          V          1                      =          1              1        +                              C            2                                C            1                          +                              R            1                                R            2                              
at this specific resonant frequency. The problem with this method is, that Rx and Cx when wood is the chosen dielectric, is extremely frequency dependent as was mentioned above and by James[P]. For the case of wood containing 100% m.c. at a temperature of 90xc2x0 C., xcex5r=600000 at 20 Hz and 27 at 1 MHz. In general any organic dielectric will have different moisture contents as it absorbs or loses moisture as time passes. This will demand from Walsh""s method to select a different resonant frequency at every different time of measurement. This is not the case for soil and ceramics in general and Rx and Cx remains frequency independent with varying moisture content. For wood therefore Walsh""s method would clearly require additional information and families of curves for each set of resonant frequency and moisture content which could have been avoided by a method fixed at a single chosen frequency. This method therefore fails to measure the severely frequency dependent dielectric of wood as the two equations presented by Walsh are not sufficient. The method of Walsh should then need to be used at 3 frequencies, with an extra equation in order to eliminate frequency. It is therefore not adequate to measure the dielectric of wood and fails the objective as described as a predefined frequency cannot be chosen and one is left to have to accept whatever the resonant frequency is Walsh""s method selects. If a user demands Rx and Cx of wood at a specific frequency, Walsh""s method fails as described in the text as an extra equation is needed.
Wagner [L] discloses a method for measuring the moisture content of Veneer. The application is not relevant, the method involves measuring the amplitude of the current through a detector which is then correlated to moisture content. No phase detection or voltages measured claimed or described and no separation of the components of the complex wood dielectric is evident or claimed.
Dechene [Q] discloses a method for measuring the current flowing through the capacitance of a liquid dielectric. The method was devised with objective to measure a very small capacitance in the presence of a very large conductance of a liquid. The purpose of the invention therefore is to correlate with capacitance Cx of the medium and not Rx. The operation is as follows, since the capacitive current component will be 90xc2x0 shifted with the conductance current, the method revolves around introducing a phase shift of 90% to create two signals differing by this phase shift. These two signals are then used in a summation to cancel out the conductive current from the complex current obtained from the dielectric sample. This invention proposes to achieve by means of a hardware implementation to obtain and single out the current through Cx only from the complex dielectric. This invention therefore measures a quantity proportional to             i      c        =                  C        c            ⁢                        ∂                      V            x                                    ∂                      ∂            t                                ,
where Vx is the voltage across the Cx.
Cox [S] and [T] disclose a method by which the voltage across a dielectric, the current through the dielectric and the phase difference between these two signals are obtained. In FIG. 5 of Cox[T], the impedance is clearly stated as meaning impedance as ohms, thereby explaining that impedance is to mean the magnitude |Zx| of the complex impedance Zx=|Zx|ejxcex8 and not the complex impedance itself. Percentage water is clearly correlated there with the magnitude of impedance, which results in a measurement correlation with m.c. equal to that of Kraxberger although the methods differ largely. The fundamental difference is that the phase angle is explicitly used to detect water-cut, but not for calculating the complex impedance Zx. The complex impedance is therefore not obtained in this application.
To conclude, James and Boone 1982[R], in the conclusion of that publication, clearly stipulated the need that technologists and inventors should move away from measuring only the magnitude of the impedance in early 1980 and concentrate on obtaining the components of the complex dielectric. James in a report circa 1997[U], expressed the same sympathies establishing that pure capacitance was still not implemented commercially due to technical difficulties.
A first objective of the invention is to implement a system which can obtain the true values of both Rx and Cx independently in order that if both are known, either is obtained at it""s true value. It can be concisely stated as obtaining a method by which             ∂              C        x                    ∂              R        x              ≡      0    ⁢          xe2x80x83        ⁢    a    ⁢          xe2x80x83        ⁢    n    ⁢          xe2x80x83        ⁢    d    ⁢          xe2x80x83        ⁢                  ∂                  R          x                            ∂                  C          x                      ≡  0.
This is described in more detail to follow.
As stated above, Rx and Cx are physically inseparable and chemically bound into the wood dielectric. Any method which claims to measure e.g. only Cx without disclosing how Rx was removed effectively to obtain the correct or pure value of Cx free of any influence of Rx up to the limits of measurement resolution is questionable. Failure to do so, will result in measurements called e.g. capacitance or capacitive, but which will still be dependent on variations of Rx and vice versa. This is then surely not measuring the true or pure value of capacitance and or the true value of resistance Rx. As the values of Cx and Rx are givens it is up to the method to separate and compensate efficiently to obtain the pure values of these two properties. The state of the art will now tested against this objective.
Ahtianien [N] clearly ignores the resistive component of the complex dielectric. By means of an example based on public measured data presented by the most renowned researchers, it was shown that the method of Ahtianien introduces errors of almost the same magnitude as the value for capacitance measured. It therefore clearly fails when applied to wood as dielectric.
Vogel discloses to measure tan 6 and does so by means of only measuring the complex current through the dielectric. He discloses this current resembles the loss-tangent. Measuring only the complex current through the dielectric, does indeed give a relationship which resembles the loss-tangent, but it is not the exact loss-tangent       tan    ⁢          xe2x80x83        ⁢    δ    =            1                        R          x                ⁢                  C          x                      .  
It is clear that one cannot just say the loss-tangent is the current through the dielectric or e.g. the inverse current. The method is therefore not exact and of the correlated type and fails the objective set out above as the method as described cannot obtain Rx, Cx individually according to the objective and thereby construct       tan    ⁢          xe2x80x83        ⁢    δ    =      1                  R        x            ⁢              C        x            
accurately and only correlates to tan xcex4. The method of Lundstrxc3x6m [B] gets rid of Cx influences by brute force. The impedance of the complex wood dielectric is       Z    x    =            R      x        -          j      ⁢                        1                      ω            ⁢                          xe2x80x83                        ⁢                          C              x                                      .            
By placing another extremely large capacitance in the order of 10 mF (10 milli Farad) across the impedance in Zx (effectively in parallel with Cx), it is clear from the equation of Zx that the reactive part will be reduced to zero if the frequency remains low. This will indeed give the result as Lundstrxc3x6m [B] anticipated. It does fulfill the objective partly for Rx but fails as it cannot obtain Cx.
Ted [A] discloses a method which can only measure discreetly and he does not claim that he can measure Rx and Cx when in combination. He only discloses a method by which he can measure either one or another property. Ted thereby fails the above-mentioned objective as the wood dielectric is physically indivisible and cannot be treated as discrete components i.e. just a resistor or just a capacitor as dielectric measuring either Cx or Rx.
Preikschat [I] discloses a method by which only the current through the dielectric sample is measured. The measurement principle is identical to Vogel[J], but the method of implementation differs. Furthermore no phase of this current is detected making it inferior to the measurement of Vogel as it only measures the amplitude of the current which is then normalized to be related to the amplitude of the impedance. It clearly fails the objective set as it clearly cannot separate Rx and Cx form the complex dielectric.
Perry discloses not to measure or attempt to separate the values of Rx and Cx out of the complex dielectric. He discloses to measure the combined effect of how Rx and Cx changes and correlates the combined change with moisture content. In principle this again involves measuring the amplitude of the current through the impedance Zx and is almost identical in principal to Vogel [J] and Preikschat [I] but differs slightly in application.
Preikschat [H] discloses a method where he do claim to obtain outputs corresponding to 1/Rx and jxcfx89Cx. However, he also discloses that his voltage output relating to jxcfx89Cx is dependent on Rx which fails the test of the objective as his method cannot obtain the independent values accurately in order that             ∂              C        x                    ∂              R        x              ≡      0    ⁢          xe2x80x83        ⁢    a    ⁢          xe2x80x83        ⁢    n    ⁢          xe2x80x83        ⁢    d    ⁢          xe2x80x83        ⁢                  ∂                  R          x                            ∂                  C          x                      ≡  0.
Walsh [K] do have a method based on resonance, which is demonstrated to have the credibility and ability to separate out Rx and Cx.
Wagner [L] discloses a method for measuring the current flowing through the dielectric. This have been treated under Vogel [J] and Preikschat [I] and fails the objective for the same reason as the principle is basically identical but the application different.
Dechene [Q] measures the current through the capacitance Cx of the dielectric medium. His measurement is therefore correlated with       C    x    ⁢                    ∂                  V          c                            ∂        t              .  
Cox [S] and [T] discloses a method by which the magnitude |Zx| of the complex impedance and the phase difference between current and voltage through and over the dielectric is measured. No attempt or disclosure was made obtaining Rx and Cx from the measurements and it was not correlated to water and or oil mixtures. The magnitude of the impedance can be obtained by the equation       |          Z      x        |    =      |          V      I        |  
which clearly does not involve a phase measurement to obtain and therefore no need to calculate the complex impedance. To conclude, no separation of dielectric components was disclosed attempted or achieved. It therefore fails the first objective.
A second objective is obtaining true valves of Rx and Cx independently, simultaneously and instantaneously. This means that with a single measurement at a specific moment of time all the necessary information must be able to be gathered by the method to obtain Rx and Cx. The reason for this specification is that wood as a dielectric may undergo reasonably fast changes in moisture contents, therefore simultaneous measurements are crucial to minimize errors due to changes occurring due to e.g. loss of moisture content. Preikschat [H] can in principle be used to measure simultaneously, but it fails the objective of independent measurement of Rx and Cx. Dechene [Q] can only measure in real time if the drying rate of the dielectric is much slower than the time constant of the long term integrators disclosed in his method. Long term integrators, 4 and 30 could introduce aliasing if the time constant is in the order of the drying rate. The objective is therefore not met in general. Ahtianien[N], Vogel[J], Lundstrxc3x6m, Ted[A], Kraxberger[M], Preikschat[I], Perry[O], Walsh [K] can measure Rx and Cx simultaneously and it is not unreasonable to assume that his circuit would be able to find the resonant frequency in a very short time. It therefore achieving the second objective as specified.
A third objective is to measure Rx and Cx as in the second objective while being restricted to a specified frequency. Most of the cited patents can be adjusted to measure at a predefined frequency. However, Ahtianien[N], Vogel[J], Lundstrxc3x6m [B], Ted[A], Preikschat[I], Perry Preikschat[H], Wagner[L], Dechene[Q], Cox [S] and [T] all failed to conform to the first and second objectives and therefore fail the third objective as a consequence.
Walsh [K] conforms to the first and second objectives as mentioned, but fails the third objective in an interesting but catastrophic way when applied to wood as will now be explained. For wood Cx and Rx are extremely frequency dependent, while in contrast it is not the case for soil, as the dielectric is not severely frequency dependent. Walsh""s method will select a different resonant frequency at every different moisture content. The method therefore cannot present the moisture content at a predefined frequency, as the resonance frequency cannot be chosen but is seeked by the method to obtain resonance corresponding to the product Rx Cx. In more detail, Walsh""s method cannot eliminate the frequency dependence of the wood dielectric as he has now three variables Rx, Cx and xcfx89 with wood as dielectric but only two equations disclosed. It therefore fails the objective. It is questioned whether Walsh""s method could be brought into resonance for all moisture, temperature and density conditions when wood is used as dielectric due to the extremely large frequency and other dependencies evident due to problems with low Qxe2x80x94factor. Low Qxe2x80x94factor will cause the resonance circuit to xe2x80x9chuntxe2x80x9d and not be able to find the resonance due to a very flat peak of the Q-factor maximum.
A fourth objective is to measure Rx and Cx as in the second objective whereby in addition moisture content above f.s.p. can be measured.
To measure above f.s.p. is one of the longest outstanding problems in moisture measurement of wood. State of the art only achieved measuring slightly above f.s.p. The need for industry to have moisture content measurement above f.s.p. is immense. By having such an instrument, large loads of expensive lumber can be dried with moisture driven schedules and errors in drying rates and distributions can be fixed in real time from 200% m.c. downward. The state of the art implemented in drying kilns can only do so from 30% downward and gives no indication above 30% leaving the operator in the blind during the first 60% of the drying schedule. This has been explained in detail above where it was shown that any measurement principle or method depending on conductivity or equivalently Rx, will inherit the problems above f.s.p. as is encountered with Rx. It is also stressed again that merely using two parallel plates does not constitute a capacitive measurement as conductivity is also measured with such a xe2x80x9ccapacitancexe2x80x9d setup. As there is a lot of ambiguity in the use of the term xe2x80x9ccapacitivexe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9ccapacitancexe2x80x9d in literature, meaning anything from a parallel plate geometry to measuring the actual capacitance of a dielectric, the applications will be listed with comments although all the cited patents fail as none could conform to the third objective. The state of the art regarding f.s.p. is as follows. Ahtianien [N] ignores the influence of Rx and is therefore dependent on conductivity. Any conductivity dependence results in inability to measure above f.s.p as described in [REF:Introduction] fails the objective. Using a capacitive probe will obviously not guarantee measuring pure capacitance as the invention cannot remove the detrimental influence of Rx above f.s.p. Vogel [J] discloses to measure tan xcex4 only. As explained above tan xcex4 is not injective and has a maximum between 0-100% m.c. Thereby failing the objective as ambiguity arises. Lundstrxc3x6m [B] only measures Rx so it cannot be used reliably above f.s.p. as described above and fails the objective. Ted [A] fails to obtain Cx independent of Rx and will therefore be dominantly conductive above f.s.p. and fails the objective. Kraxberger [M] measures the magnitude of the impedance of the complex, dielectric and therefore is dependent on Rx. It therefore cannot measure reliably above f.s.p. and fails the objective. Perry [0] fails the objective same reason as Kraxberger does. Preikschat [I] fails for the objective same reason as Kraxberger does. Walsh [K] can measure Cx independent from Rx but he cannot do so successively at the same frequency. Extra equations are needed in his disclosure to effect this. These equations were not disclosed mentioned or anticipated in his disclosure and it therefore fails to measure Cx and Rx above f.s.p. as both are extremely frequency dependent. Wagner [L] cannot remove Rx from the measurement. It therefore cannot measure reliably above f.s.p. and fails the objective. Dechene [Q] can remove the current flowing through Rx from the complex current through the dielectric. The quantity       i    c    =            C      c        ⁢                  ∂                  V          x                            ∂                  ∂          t                    
might be able to be used for measurement above f.s.p. However, Ahtianien[N], Vogel[J], Lundstrxc3x6m [B], Ted[A], Preikschat[I], Walsh[K], Perry, Preikschat[H], Wagner[L], Dechene[Q], Cox [S] and [T] all failed to conform to the third objectives and therefore fail this objective by default.
A fifth objective is to proud a system whereby f.s.p. can be detected observing when Rx desaturates. If Rx can be obtained independently from influences of Cx, then a reliable method can be obtained to establish f.s.p. as can be immediately understood from the above section headed by the subtitle xe2x80x9cCorrelation of the Moisture Content with Conductivityxe2x80x9d. Fiber saturation point can be defined to be triggered when the conductivity starts to drop sharply from it""s saturated state and or when the slope of the curve reaches 45xc2x0. To explain the effect; As soon as all the free water is removed out of the trachea and the only remaining water are bounded water, the conductivity will tend to decrease sharply. This will have the effect that Rx will increase sharply. This is then an accurate method to obtain the f.s.p. Obtaining f.s.p. is of crucial importance for the European kiln drying community as they need f.s.p. detection to speed up their drying after it is detected. It is general knowledge that once f.s.p. has been reached the drying rate can be increased as the damage to the wood would now be minimal compared to fast drying rates above f.s.p. This has immense impact on the cost, as shorter drying times can be achieved with the same quality produced. In summary of the problem, if Rx is not known independently from the influences of Cx fiber saturation point cannot be obtained. Mere magnitude of impedance measurements will therefore be dependent on Cx and fail to allow use of Rx to detect f.s.p. The state of the art relates as follows, Ahtianien [N] ignores the influence of Rx and therefore it is not calculated or detected and become known. It fails the objective. Vogel [J] discloses measuring tan xcex4 only so there is a dependence on Cx. It fails the objective. Kraxberger [M] measures the magnitude of impedance and is therefore dependent on Cx. It fails the objective. Perry [O] fails for the same reason as Kraxberger and fails the objective. Cox [S] and [T] fails for the same reason as Kraxberger and fails the objective. Preikschat [I] cannot obtain the independent values of Rx and Cx accurately. It therefore fails the objective. Wagner [L] fails for the same reason as Kraxberger and fails the objective. Dechene [Q] discloses to measure Cx by removing Rx. Cx cannot be used to detect f.s.p. as no known phenomena is known to detect f.s.p. It therefore fails the objective. Lundstrxc3x6m [B] would be able to detect fiber saturation point as he eliminates Cx. Walsh [K] would be able to measure f.s.p. as it can measure Rx. Since f.s.p. is frequency independent it passes the objective.
A sixth objective is to provide a system whereby moisture content can be correlated by using published analytical correlations based on xcex5r, "sgr".
The dielectric properties of wood namely xcex5r the relative permittivity and the conductance "sgr", generates all other properties such as tan xcex4, Cx, Rx. Correlation of xcex5r and "sgr" to moisture content of wood is published by researchers working in all fields spanning modeling to empirical measurement. In order to correlate using the data from researchers in public domain, measuring principles must disclose to measure xcex5r and "sgr" within the limits of resolution of the measuring hardware and software. This is of utmost importance. If a measurement principle is used for a medium and there are already published data correlating the moisture content with a dielectric property rigorously, then it is of utmost importance to obtain a measurement method which measures the dielectric properties individually and accurately and independently in order that this public data can be used to correlate the moisture content. The problem with methods not conforming to this philosophy is that custom correlations with moisture needs to be made which become relevant only to the method and since it might be a linear superposition of dielectric properties cannot be verified and tested against public data. The benefit on the other hand of a method accurately measuring the dielectric properties is that all other custom correlations can be emulated by a method measuring the dielectric properties accurately. The converse is not true. An instrument based on a method which measures a lumped super-position of dielectric properties cannot produce one of these dielectric properties accurately. The benefit is clear. The cited inventions will now be tested toward if they can be correlated to one of these properties. This is of extreme importance since it discloses whether the wealth of public domain data can be used with the method.
Ahtianien [N] does not correlate purely to Cx or Rx and therefore cannot correlate with "sgr" or xcex5r of the dielectric as described above. Vogel [J] discloses to measure a quantity resembling tan xcex4 and can arguably correspond to the public data, but there is no proof presented whereby he measures the actual or pure       tan    ⁢          xe2x80x83        ⁢    δ    =      1          ω      ⁢              xe2x80x83            ⁢              R        x            ⁢              C        x            
by means of equations in the disclosure. Lundstrxc3x6m [B] does disclose a method by which he eliminates the influence of Cx in his measurement. Although no equation is presented to prove that Rx is in fact measured, the benefit of the doubt that he can correlate his output to that of Rx, is plausible due to his compensation for Cx. It might therefore be possible to accurately correlate with Rx and the objective might possibly be reached. Kraxberger [M] measures the magnitude of the complex dielectric and therefore does not relate to any of the properties above but to inseparable combinations thereof. It therefore fails the objective. Perry [O] fails the objective for the same reason as Kraxberger[M]. Preikschat [I] discloses that his separation of the reactive and conductive components are not ideal as Cx is influenced by changes in Rx. The resulting correlations with jxcfx89Cx and Rx are disclosed to be combined into a single measurement correlated to moisture content. It therefore fails the objective for at least Cx. Walsh [K] can be used with the published correlations, as he can measure Rx and Cx accurately for at least some frequency ranges. The problem is however that he have to relate each and every frequency possible that his method chooses. It however does correlate to data at a non-specified frequency so it satisfies the objective, but it would fail immediately if correlation at a specified frequency is chosen as the criteria. Wagner [L] fails the objective for the same reason as Kraxberger. Cox [S] and [T] fails the objective for the same reason as Kraxberger. Dechene [Q] might be possible to correlate with Cx by transforming his current correlation to a capacitance correlation and is allowed to satisfy the objective.
A seventh objective is to provide a system by which the probe dielectrics can be removed and have insignificant influence on the measurement.
In this regard, the method must be such that if any stray or offset values are generated by the probe dielectric, that it can be systematic removed by the method of the invention in order to obtain only the value of the dielectric under measurement without the probe offsets. Ahtianien [N] does not disclose a probing system. However if a probing system involves a resistive offset, then it would not be able to compensate in any case and therefore fails the objective.
Vogel [J] discloses to measure       tan    ⁢          xe2x80x83        ⁢    δ    =      1          ω      ⁢              xe2x80x83            ⁢              R        x            ⁢              C        x            
and is not able to measure Cx and Rx independently. There is no way therefore to know what Rx and Cx are by only knowing the loss-tangent and therefore the probe dielectrics cannot be calculated and therefore not compensated for. It therefore fails the objective. Ted[A], cannot measure the properties of a dielectric with combined element Rx and Cx and therefore cannot in general calculate and remove the probe influence on the measurements.
Lundstrxc3x6m [B] measures only Rx assuming he can obtain Rx accurately, then he can remove the probe resistance R0 by measuring the short circuited resistance of the probe and conforms to the objective. Kraxberger[M], Perry[O], Wagner[L], Dechene [Q] and Cox [S] and [T] measures the magnitude of the complex impedance either by current voltage ratios or by current alone assuming the voltage across the dielectric is constant. The magnitude of the complex impedance can be compensated for if Rx and Cx is known which is not the case. They therefore fail the objective.
Preikschat [I] would be able to measure the offsets of some probes except when these probe-sets are lossy by which his application clearly states that Cx becomes dependent on Rx. It therefore fails the objective in general.
Walsh [K] would be able to eliminate the probe dielectrics if the probe dielectrics are frequency independent. As the latter is true in almost all cases it can be viewed as practically true and satisfies the objective.
An eighth objective is to provide a system which is intrinsically free of power and oscillator amplitude variations and references needed.
The objective here is to set the standard for a method which is independent of oscillator variations in a fundamental sense. Meaning that the compensation is integral and do not need to be added by means of discreet components whose existence is due only to this compensation. If such methods exist, they will clearly be superior in ruggedness and long term stability compared with hardware implications thereof. The use of references are costly as it means components with discreet accuracy. Any method free of dependence on references are clearly superior to those in need of it. Ahtianien [N] relies on his oscillator voltage to be an accurate reference. Fluctuations in oscillator specifications are not compensated for. Oscillator voltage will otherwise influence his measurement voltage and therefore fails the objective. Vogel [J] needs a reference phase shift of exactly 90xc2x0 for his method to operate and therefore fails the objective. Inaccurate phase shift will result in inaccurate measurement.
Lundstrxc3x6m [B] needs a reference capacitance of enormous magnitude in order for his circuit to work as described. He also discloses in his objectives that he needs to compensate for power supply variations and fails the objective. Kraxberger [M] needs 180xc2x0 out of phase reference voltages to eliminate the influence on Cx by the cabling. If Kraxberger [M] satisfied the seventh objective, the cumbersome out of phase probe construction would have been unnecessary since Cx could be measured and subtracted. It fails the objective. Perry [0] does not compensate for oscillator variations and therefore fails the objective as his measurement will be dependent on amplitude variations.
Preikschat [I] relies on a reference phase shift for his invention to operate as described. In the description, it is disclosed that a stabilized oscillator is required. It therefore fails the objective on both accounts. Walsh [K] would be independent of oscillator voltage in a in the ratio             V      2              V      1        .
Wagner [L] does not compensate for oscillator variations and the measured quantity will therefore be dependent on oscillator variations. It fails the objective. Dechene [Q] does not compensate for oscillator variations. The readings will therefore be dependent on oscillator variations and it fails the objective. Cox [S] and [T] satisfies the objective for the same reasons as in Walsh[K].
A ninth objective is to provide a system in which the probes need not be cleaned or isolated from the dielectric regarding measurement of Cx. Contact resistance between wood and metallic probes are extremely significant. When the objective is to measure pure capacitance Cx, and the method used does not compensate for removing conductivity or equivalently Rx, then it will be needed to isolate the metallic probes from making contact with the medium to try and compensate in part for such error influences on the true capacitance. It must be stressed again that Cx and Rx cannot be physically and electrically isolated. Therefore a method with the objective to measure pure capacitance capacitive, should not dependent on contact between the wood and the metal probes. This will involve effective canceling of the conductance effects of the dielectric. Only processes displaying the ability to calculate both Rx and Cx or which does not calculate Rx, but clearly shows that the Cx measurements are compensated for by means of eliminating the Rx influence will qualify to be considered for this objective. James and Boone [R] describes this in detail and presents case studies involving state of the art xe2x80x9ccapacitivexe2x80x9d kiln monitors failing this criterion. These xe2x80x9ccapacitivexe2x80x9d monitors in fact measures the magnitude of impedance but are called capacitive due to the fact that the probing systems resembles capacitive geometries and not by the quantity it measures.
All prior art which did not satisfy the criteria of the first objective are disqualified. They are; Ahtianien[N], Perry[O], Wagner [L] Preikschat[I], Cox [S] and [T]. Lundstrxc3x6m [B] will most likely not have to isolate the probing system and satisfies the objective. Dechene [Q] would not need to isolate the probes and complies with the objective. Walsh [K] would not need such isolation, but as usual will fail to obtain Cx at a specified frequency. It however satisfies this objective.
Dechene [Q] would not need to isolate the probes and complies with the objective.
This concludes the objectives.
In the system of the invention all of the above described objectives are met. The method is based on the principle of measuring only three properties namely the voltage over the impedance comprising of the complex dielectric of wood as described above, a voltage over a resistance in series with the impedance and the phase shift between these two voltages. The physically and chemically inseparable dielectric properties Cx, Rx are then obtained uniquely independently and mutually exclusive of another by the use of a mathematical model. The loss-tangent tan xcex4 can be constructed by either using the values Cx and Rx obtained or from an expression involving only the three measurements utilizing the mathematical model.
According to the present invention there is provided a method of determining the dielectric properties of wood, which method includes having the wood disposed between electrodes, applying a varying electrical signal to the electrodes, measuring the electrical values of the signal, and determining from the measured values the phase angle and magnitude of the complex impedence between the electrodes.
The varying electrical signal can conveniently be a sinusoidal voltage and can be applied to the electrodes via a resistive element, and the phase angle between the applied voltage (i.e. the voltage before the resistive element) and the voltage across the electrodes (i.e. the voltage after the resistive element), and the magnitudes of said voltages determined. From this it is possible to derive the phase angle and magnitude of the complex impedance between the electrodes.
It will be understood that one of the electrodes may be ground, i.e. the structure on which the wood is supported, where the structure is of an electrically conductive material.
The measured values may be determined in an electronics module which is in close proximity to the electrodes, and the phase angle and magnitude of said complex impedance may be determined from the measured values in data processing means which is remote from the electrodes, there being a data link between the electronics module and the data processing means.
Further according to the invention there is provided means for determining the dielectric properties of wood, which comprises a pair of electrodes between which the wood can be disposed, and means for determining the phase angle and magnitude of the complex impedance between the electrodes.
Still further according to the invention there is provided a wood-drying installation which comprises a wood-drying kiln and means for determining the moisture content of wood being dried in the kiln, said means comprising a pair of electrodes between which the wood in the kiln can be disposed, and means for determining the phase angle and magnitude of the complex impedance between the electrodes.
The means for determining the phase angle and magnitude of the complex impedance between the electrodes may comprise a resistive element connected in series with one of the electrodes, means for applying a sinusoidal voltage to the electrodes via the resistive element, and means for determining the phase angle between the applied voltage and the voltage across the electrodes and the magnitudes of said voltages.
The invention will now be described in more detail, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings.